Behind Enemy Lines
by Ex-Shark-Virtue-005
Summary: Fox passes out behind enemy lines during a mission on Fichina and it causes the rest of the team to make a surprising discovery about someone they thought to be dead. Will they learn the truth about the mystery on Fichina and what will it mean for the future of the Star Fox Team?
1. Things go wrong

Hey there everyone! I'm Ex-Shark-Virtue-005. I first wrote this fic way back in 2004. Then I rewrote it in late 2006 to early 2007. And I'm rewriting it again in 2012. I've cleaned it up a ton from the original. I put the entire story in third person instead of switching point of views. I've also decided on when it takes place in the series and it takes place about a year after the events of Star Fox 64 so that makes Fox nineteen years old. I'm pretty confident that I know where I'm going with this story this time around and I promise I won't update this story when I decide to rewrite it after five some odd years.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or the characters. I just really enjoy playing the games.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter One: Things go wrong, very wrong.

_'Where is that damn distress signal_,' Fox McCloud thought to himself as the sky got darker. He and the other members of the Star Fox team had already been searching Fichina for about two and a half possibly three hours searching for a distress signal and they had gotten nowhere. "Dammit! What the hell!" Fox swore as his patients grew thin.

"Wow Fox, two swears in one sentence. That's a new record for you. Let me copy this down, date: August third, nineteen ninety-seven, planet: Fichina, time: fifteen hundred thirty-three hours, event: Fox McCloud swore twice in one statement."

"What you heard me!"

Falco just laughed at the reply, "Calm down McCloud I'm only joking." He assured his younger teammate. "The reason I called is because Slippy needs your help…again. Apparently he ran into a few pissed off natives with really shitty ships."

"Alright," Fox responded as he located his teammate not too far from his position, "I'll see what I can do." Before going to aid his teammate, Fox rolled the sleeves of his tan jacket down. He was feeling rather cold but he figured that it had something to do with the sub-zero temperatures outside of his Arwing.

Fox followed Slippy around but it was going to be impossible to get the "natives" off him if he didn't hold still. He turned on my com-link, "Slippy!" he screamed, "Hold st-" Mid-sentence he was cut off by a severe wave of dizziness.

"Fox are you okay!" Slippy asked.

Fox couldn't respond. He needed to do everything he could to keep himself from blacking out.

"Hey Fox are sure you're okay?" Falco called, "You don't look so good."

Fox was still far too dizzy to respond. And he knew that it would only cause his teammates to worry about him more.

"Come on Fox," Falco called, "What's wrong?"

Finally the dizzy spell began to subside and Fox was able to open his eyes and contact his worried team. First He checked the Arwing's status just to make sure everything was in order. He didn't understand why he felt so sick all of a sudden. He thought that maybe something was wrong with the oxygen tank on his Arwing, but everything was in order.

"Hey Fox answer us already!" Falco screamed over the communicator, "You have us scared half to death! Don't do that to us!"

"I didn't mean to scare anyone," He replied sheepishly.

"Than what was that thing you pulled off a few minutes ago, huh McCloud?" Falco sneered back.

Fox knew he would have a hard time lying about that stunt he had just pulled, "I was having trouble with the Arwing's controls and communications line." He lied. The dizziness may have passed but his head was pounding.

"Are you sure Fox?" Slippy asked, "Everything was in order before we left."

"I'm sure," Fox responded, "You might want to check it out when we get back."

"If you insist."

* * *

Further up ahead, the team came across another group of "natives" however for whatever reason, probably the pounding in his head, Fox could only take out two maybe three of a group of ten. "What the hell is wrong with you today Fox! We're supposed to destroy the enemies not let them pass unharmed!" Falco screamed, "Pull yourself together!"

'_Must he scream?'_ Fox thought as he held his head a bit. He had an almost migraine-pitch headache and having Falco scream at him through the communications line wasn't helping at all.

A few minutes later his communicator beeped again. He was starting to get really fed up with Falco but he knew if he ignored this call the odds of him being forced to retreat were high. He got ready to fire some witty remark at Falco only to find that Falco was not the person contacting him. It was Peppy.

"Fox I don't think you should be out here. You don't look like you're feeling too well." He said "Are you okay."

"I'm fine Peppy." Fox replied. Peppy was right. Fox wasn't feeling all that great. However General Pepper was counting on them to find that signal. He wasn't gonna stop because of a slight headache.

Five minutes later Fox was starting to regret not telling Peppy the truth. He was really starting to feel sick. His "slight" headache was pretty much a migraine now. He just had to hold on just long enough to find the signal.

* * *

Fox soon found that that he was wrong, very wrong. The "distress signal" turned out to be some kind of base and the "natives" were definitely not friends of Corneria. He thought an assault would be easy until a huge battleship stopped them.

"Shit that thing's huge!" Falco yelled, "You sure you're okay Fox, because I can handle this one."

"I'm fine Falco, I can handle this," Fox replied trying not to sound too confident. _'Who am I kidding,' _He thought to, _'I know I won't be able to do this, but I have to try._'

"Whatever Fox," Falco answered, "Just don't pass out on us okay. I don't think you would want to get captured by them."

The battleship was similar to something that Fox had fought once before only with less firepower. He had to fire at the wings and bridge of the large battleship while minding the countless gun turrets on it. He found it easy enough to fight until the ship fired a blast of energy at Fox.

"Watch out Fox!" Falco screamed.

Fox couldn't move out of the beam's path in time and got hit almost full blast. When the beam stopped, Fox was barely conscious and every alarm in his Arwing was going off. "Get outta here Fox!" Peppy screamed, "We can't afford to have you get killed! Go back to the Great Fox or land somewhere away from the battle. Falco will take your place!"

Fox turned to either head back to the Great Fox or find somewhere safe to land until his teammates could help him. However a few of the larger more heavily armed ships took a liking to him and started shooting at his already heavily damaged Arwing. "Peppy…" Fox called weakly through a private line, "I need help. My ship can't take anymore damage and…I can't take much more either."

"Hold on Fox," Peppy answered quietly. He could tell that the younger pilot was struggling. He had known Fox for his entire life. And he knew well enough that the younger pilot wasn't feeling well at all, "I'm coming."

Before Peppy could go to Fox's aid, a stray laser blast hit the engine of the Arwing dead on, causing Fox to lose total control of his ship. Normally, he would have tried to regain control of his ship, but he didn't have the strength or the energy to fight the ship's controls. He tried desperately to keep his eyes open despite the darkness that was threatening to engulf him.

He tried to make a general idea of where he would crash land amidst the blaring alarms and his hazy, fading vision. And to his dismay he would probably crash just behind enemy lines. But Fox never saw what happened next. He gave into the darkness that was consuming him and the last thing he knew before losing consciousness was several voices calling his name.

* * *

Well there it is. The third (and hopefully last) version of chapter one. If you've read the last version I hope you enjoyed the revised version and if you're reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought! Until next time, see ya!

15:33 hours is 3:33 in the afternoon.

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	2. Going to the Rescue

Hey there everyone! I'm back with the rewrite of chapter two. This chapter was originally from Falco's point of view but I changed it to third person.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or the characters. I just really enjoy playing the games.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Two: Going to the Rescue

Falco watched in horror as Fox's Arwing got hit full blast with a stray laser blast.

"Dammit! Fox!" He screamed as Fox's Arwing headed towards the ground behind enemy lines. "Okay pal," He said in a low growl, "Now you've pissed me off. I'm not gonna hold anything back." He paused to look around for the rest of his teammates. "Peppy, Slippy evasive maneuvers, I'm firing a nova."

As soon as Falco saw that his teammates were no longer in the line of fire, he launched the powerful bomb and got out of there as fast as he could. He watched from a distance as the battleship disintegrated in the massive ball of fire that the bomb had created.

"Falco where do you think you're going," Peppy called. As Falco headed off in the direction of Fox's fallen ship.

"Where do you think I'm going?" He called back, "I'm gonna go rescue my best friend!"

"Falco…you can't." Peppy said.

"Yes I can," He answered, "My friend is out there somewhere definitely sick and probably injured. I'm going to go find him."

"Falco…" Peppy muttered. As much as he too wanted to rush to his young leader's rescue, they couldn't risk going into enemy territory with only three members, "We can't go without a plan Falco. We're going behind enemy lines. We don't know what's out there. "

"Since when do we need a plan?" Falco asked, "We didn't have a plan when we stormed Venom and that was definitely behind enemy lines. Did we know what was out there?"

"I guess not," Peppy answered, "But that's not the point Falco."

"What is the goddamn point any way?" Falco screamed.

"Falco the point is we don't know what's out there," Peppy said, "We don't need to lose someone else."

"Lemmee get this straight," He said quietly, "We won't lose any one else. But we may lose Fox if we don't hurry! We don't know if the crash injured him or not. If Fox is severely injured and we wait and devise a plan he could…it could be…too late."

"Falco's right Peppy," Slippy piped in, "If it was one of us, Fox wouldn't want a plan either. He would just go not caring about the consequences it may have."

"I do have a plan, Peppy," Falco said trying to keep his cool despite the unknown condition of his closest friend, "And that plan is go in there and rescue Fox. But we should split up. We would cover more ground that way. If one of us finds him, we are to send our location to the others and ROB. That way we could have ROB get Fox's Arwing to the Great Fox. And so we wouldn't be looking around aimlessly for hours after."

"Alright," Slippy said, "That sounds good."

"What about you Peppy?" Falco asked. He had tried to make his plan as close to something that Fox would have come up with in a similar situation.

"I guess." Peppy said. "I still don't like this."

"Alright," Falco said, "Slippy you go to the North to North-West. Peppy you have the North to North-east. You two cover in the air, I'll be on the ground."

"What!" Peppy screamed, "Are you crazy? You're going to be on foot behind enemy lines! Do you have a death wish?"

"Relax old man," Falco said, "I'll go out in a Landmaster."

"Okay that's better." Peppy said.

"Good luck to all of us." Falco said as he started the landing sequence. "ROB, do you have my coordinates?"

"Affirmative," ROB said in his regular monotone voice, "I am preparing the Landmaster now.

"Thanks ROB," Falco said as he returned to the Great Fox. He docked his Arwing and got into the Landmaster. As he started the tank up he found that Slippy had sent him a message. He piloted the tank out into the unforgiving climate of Fichina.

"Hey Falco I think I may have found something" Slippy's message said "I sent the coordinates to the computer. I would investigate myself however I can't find a place to land. I don't think it's an enemy. I've been circling overhead and it hasn't done anything."

Falco looked at the coordinates. They were about twenty-four hundred meters from his location. _'Let's just hope that's Fox_,' Falco thought, _"I wouldn't want to rescue a fallen enemy. But then again, if it is an enemy, Slippy would have been shot down by now."_

"Slippy," Falco called "I just got your message, what do you see?"

"I see a ship but I can't get close enough to see what it is." Slippy answered, "Where are you?"

"I'm…sixteen hundred meters from your location. I'm trying to get there as soon as possible," Falco answered. "Stay there, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Several minutes later Falco saw Slippy's ship and the ship he was talking about. "Slippy contact ROB and Peppy," He said as he stopped the tank, "I'm pretty sure that's an Arwing. I'm going to investigate."

"_Damn it's cold..." _Falco thought as he jumped out of the Landmaster and ran towards the ship. The condition of the Arwing made him feel sick. The wings were broken off, the engine was still smoking and it seemed to be damaged enough to ensure that the pilot sustained some serious injuries. "Slippy I'm gonna have to smash the cockpit open." He said after evaluating the condition of the Arwing.

"Falco are you sure that's a good idea?" Slippy asked. "What about the mechanism on the side of the cockpit, did you try that?"

"The Mechanism is completely destroyed, Slip." Falco answered as he looked around on the ground for a rock or something. When he found nothing, he checked inside the Landmaster for something and sure enough he found a screw driver in one of the compartments, _"Thanks Slip…"_ He thought to himself.

He went back into the frigid air of Fortuna and tried smashing the cockpit of Fox's Arwing. The cold air was really starting to get to him. His hands were completely numb and he was shivering almost too badly enough to properly hold the tool. _'I hope we had something in the medical bay that will heal frostbite and possibly Hypothermia._' He thought to himself as he hit the cockpit again, _"If I don't get this open soon I'll be in trouble too…"_

Finally he heard a faint crack and saw the spider web-like cracks in the blast-proof glass. He curled his hand into a fist a punched the center of the crack not caring about what it might have done to his hand. And the glass gave in. He worked quickly to clear the rest of the glass with the screwdriver. He then used an icicle to hit the button that would open the cockpit. He knew that once the emergency switch was activated the cockpit would fly open with almost lethal force and he didn't particularly feel like losing an arm.

"Hey guys I've got the cockpit open." He said as he checked Fox's neck for a pulse.

"Is Fox okay?" Peppy asked.

It took Falco a while to find a pulse with his numb hand. But he was able to find it and while it may not have been very strong, it was still there. "He's alive." He answered as he undid the restraints and carefully lifted Fox out of his Arwing. He set Fox down inside the Landmaster, "ROB can you auto-pilot the Landmaster?" He asked.

"I can only pilot the Arwings." ROB answered. "There should be a small space behind the seat. I believe that Fox can fit into that space with ease."

"Let's hope so," Falco muttered to himself as he lifted Fox out of the Landmaster to find space Rob was talking about. Sure enough he found it. He folded back the seat and carefully put Fox there. "ROB, do you have my location?"

"Affirmative," Rob answered, "I'll fly low enough so that you will be able to hover into the hangar."

Falco didn't answer. He was really starting to feel the effects of hypothermia. He may not have had any first aid training but he was aware of the signs. He took one last look at Fox's totaled Arwing and he saw someone who was thought to be dead in the distance. "James?" He asked quietly.

Falco tried to shake the images from his head. When he had returned from his battle with Andross about a year ago, Fox muttered something about seeing his father leading him from the collapsing base. None of them quite knew what to make of it. Especially considering that Fox had collapsed shortly after due to extreme exhaustion and some rather severe injuries. Most of them thought that perhaps it was just a figment of Fox's imagination brought on by exhaustion, the concussion he had sustained and his emotional state at the time. Granted at the same time, none of them doubted their eighteen year old leader.

Falco jumped into the Landmaster and took one last look and the fox was still standing there. He then closed the hatch and hit the hover throttle and entered the hangar.

* * *

Well that's the end of chapter two. I forgot to mention this in the first chapter but I will be using metric units (centimeters, meter, kilometers and so on) in this fic. It makes much more sense than using the U.S customary system (inches, feet, miles and so on). I'll make sure to provide the conversions at the end of each of the chapters to help prevent confusion.

Metric conversions:  
1600 meters is approximately one mile

I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought. Until next time, see ya!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	3. Things Get Worse

Hey there everyone! I'm back with the rewrite of chapter three. This chapter was written in third person so all I had to do was clean it up a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or the characters. I just really enjoy playing the games.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Three: Things Get Worse

Falco didn't get out of the Landmaster right away he was too tired and cold to want to move. He didn't open the hatch until he saw the other two fly into the hangar. He slowly climbed out of the Landmaster and staggered right into the side of the tank.

"Falco!" Peppy yelled as he and Slippy ran over to assist Falco, "Are you alright?"

"I'm not sure," Falco muttered, "Everything's spinning."

"You're probably hypothermic! Did I not tell everyone to dress warm?" Peppy asked as he helped Slippy get Fox out of the Landmaster, "And did you not _refuse_ to wear a jacket?"

"I guess," he muttered as he sat down near the Landmaster, "Heh, lemmee guess you're gonna say that the reason I got Hypothermia was my fault."

"No I wasn't," Peppy said, "We didn't know that Fox would crash on Fichina and we didn't know that you would need to go out in the Landmaster. Will you listen to me next time?"

"No, probably not," Falco answered weakly, "You know me. I'll always be as stubborn as hell. I'll probably listen to you once possibly twice, but…"

Falco's expression suddenly changed as he slumped against the tank, unconscious.

"Slippy," Peppy called, "Go and tell ROB that we will need a hypothermia treatment kit possibly two."

"Why?" Slippy asked.

"I'm just now realizing that neither Fox nor Falco has a warm jacket on." Peppy said as he looked at the two unconscious forms lying on the cold metal floor of the hangar. "I told them to dress warm but these two never want to listen."

"Hey you do know that neither of us wants to give in, right?" Falco's voice came.

"Falco are you alright?" Peppy asked.

"Sorry to worry you," Falco answered weakly, "I didn't mean to pass out like that."

"What am I going to do with you two," Peppy said, "What the hell am I going to do with the two of you!"

"The world is gonna end, Peppy Hare just swore!" Falco exclaimed. He then put his hand to his head, "Uh my head."

"Well that's what you get for screaming," Peppy said as he noticed a deep gash on the back of Falco's hand, "What the hell happened?"

"That must be from when I punched the canopy of Fox's Arwing to break it." Falco responded.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Peppy asked.

"I needed to get Fox out of the cockpit as fast as I could," Falco siad, "I wasn't thinking."

"I'll say," Peppy said as he helped Falco stand, "Are you alright? Can you make it to the medical bay?"

"I should," Falco said, "But I'm not sure."

"Alright then I have Slippy get Fox," Peppy said, "And I'll help you."

"Can Slippy even carry Fox?" Falco asked.

"Slippy's a big boy he can handle it." Peppy said, "Slippy!"

"Yes Peppy?" Slippy answered.

"Get Fox," Peppy said, "I have to make sure that Falco doesn't take a nose dive."

Slippy didn't answer he just went over and carefully picked up the unconscious fox from the floor.

"Be careful Slippy," Falco said, "We don't know if he has any major injuries."

"I will," Slippy yelled back, "I was thinking the same thing."

"Alright," Peppy said, "Let's get going."

* * *

It was a slow trip to the medical bay. Falco had to stop every so often because his head was spinning. Peppy also wanted to make sure that Slippy took it slow. Once they got to the medical bay, Falco flopped down on one of the beds and groaned. Slippy carefully set Fox down on another bed.

"Rob," Slippy called through the intercom, "You are needed in the medical bay." He paused and turned to Peppy, "Peppy, was it just me or did Fox look sick earlier today?"

"Why do you ask, Slippy?" Peppy asked as he started bandaging Falco's injured hand.

"I don't know I thought he felt kinda warm when I was bringing him down here." Slippy said quietly, "And he was acting odd earlier."

"Well after Fox got hit with that blast form the enemy, just before he got shot down he asked me for help. And I know Fox well enough to know that he was telling me that he wasn't feeling well."

Falco and Slippy both looked at Peppy with rather shocked looks. Fox _never_ asked for help, he had a tendency to want to do everything himself. "That's not like him at all," Falco said, "But now that you mention it, Fox _did_ look kinda out of it this morning. I asked him if he was feeling alright but he just told me that he didn't get much sleep last night. I thought that was weird considering that he went to bed at twenty-two hundred last night which is uncommon for him."

"He fell asleep at the table this morning," Slippy said, "When I walked in the kitchen he was asleep with a piece of half eaten toast in his hand. When I woke him up he told me the same thing and threw the rest of the toast away. He then told me that he would be in his room if anyone needed him."

"Typical," Peppy muttered, "Fox has inherited his father's stubbornness. James was the same way."

"Speaking of James," Falco said, "I thought I saw him. It might have just been because of the snow the Great Fox was kicking up but I'm pretty sure I saw him."

"What, when?" Peppy asked.

"Right before I got in the Landmaster although I may have been seeing things." Falco said. "But he was still there when I left the surface of the planet."

"Let's keep this between the three of us until Fox is well again," Peppy said quietly, "We don't need to work him up right now.

The three sat there in silence until Rob came in. "What do you need Slippy?" he said.

"Fox crashed during the mission and we need to know if he has any injuries." Slippy said, "We also believe that Fox may be sick."

"Fox's temperature is almost forty point two degrees Celsius (104.3 F)," Rob said, "He has sustained three cracked ribs and a broken wrist."

"Damn, he _is_ sick." Falco said, "No wonder he passed out."

"Thankfully his injuries aren't as severe as we thought," Peppy said, "He won't be able to pilot for a while but he's not in danger."

"I am also seeing the beginnings of bacterial pneumonia," ROB said, "We will need to get him to Corneria immediately. We do not have the facilities to treat him here."

"Dammit," Peppy exclaimed, "I'll be having a nice long chat with him when he's well again."

"Just don't do what you did after he defeated Andross," Falco said, "We all know how well he reacted to that."

"What about Falco ROB?" Peppy asked, "I'm suspecting hypothermia."

"Falco's body temperature is slightly below normal," ROB said, "However it is not anything to worry about."

"Should I set course for Corneria?" Slippy asked.

"Yes," Peppy said, "I'll go and contact the General, to tell him what happened. Falco start splinting his wrist." Peppy left the main part of the medical bay and entered the very messy office. When he finally found the satellite communicator he set up a transmission to Cornerian Defense Center.

"Cornerian Defense Center, how may I help you today?" The young woman at the service center said. "Oh hello Peppy, I take it you want to speak with the General. Was your mission successful?"

"Not as successful as we hoped it would be," Peppy answered, "We ran into some problems, and we ended up with a heavily damaged Arwing. We ended up having to abort."

"That doesn't sound too good," the young woman answered, "I'll put you through to the General although he may not be too happy with the interruption. He's in the middle of a very important meeting with the leader of the Bulldog and Husky units. Have a nice day, Peppy."

Peppy had to wait a couple of minutes before he was able to speak with the General. "Hello Peppy, was your mission successful?"

"It wasn't as successful as we would have hoped it would be sir," Peppy answered, "We were able to find the distress signal, but it was a trap. We ran into several large heavily armed and armored ships. We were able to take one of the ships out but we were forced to abort before we could complete the mission."

"What do you mean you were forced to abort the mission?" Pepper asked.

Peppy sighed, "There were a few injuries…and…Fox was shot down…"

"What?" Another voice called before the General could respond, a voice that belonged to one of Fox's childhood friends, Bill Grey. "Fox McCloud was _shot down!_ Peppy what happened? Is he alright?"

"We were able to rescue him fairly quickly," Peppy said, "We got lucky, he only sustained three cracked ribs and a broken wrist."

"Thank god…but to think…" Bill gasped, "Fox, one of the best pilots in the _entire_ Lylat System, was actually shot down…Just what happened to him out there…I mean the guy single-handedly defeated Andross…"

"Once we got Fox back on the Great Fox, we got even more bad news," Peppy said, "Turns out Fox lost consciousness due to a dangerously high fever and the beginnings of bacterial pneumonia. We are headed back to Corneria as we speak."

"He went out with _pneumonia_!" Bill asked, "What the hell was he thinking?"

"I couldn't tell you," Peppy said.

"Sounds like you guys could use some help." Bill said, "As long as it's okay with the General, I'm willing to help."

"I don't mind," Pepper said, "But who is going to look after your troops while you're gone?"

"I'm sure Lieutenant Chase wouldn't mind." Bill said, "Peppy, how much longer until you get to Corneria?"

"Not much longer I hope," Peppy said, "We can't afford to take our time with Fox's condition."

"That sounds good Peppy," Pepper said, "I'll make sure that everything is ready for your arrival. I'll have one of our hangars prepared for the Great Fox and I'll have a private room in our medical facilities prepared for Fox."

"Thank you General," Peppy said, "I'll see you in several hours."

He walked back into the medical bay to find Falco sitting on a chair near Fox. "How is he doing?" Peppy asked.

"His condition hasn't changed since you left," Falco said, "ROB said that he may wake up before we get to Corneria, but it's unlikely. What I want to know is why Fox even agreed to go on that mission, he could have declined it."

"Falco, Fox just takes after his father." Peppy said, "James did the same thing once. He went on a mission so sick he could barely stand. Pigma and I urged him to stay on the Great Fox and rest but he wouldn't listen. That mission was on Zoness, we were trying to fix the communications line on one of the bases. At one point James said he needed some air so he went outside for a minute. As luck should have it James passed out and fell into the water. He almost drowned. If it hadn't been for Slippy's father Beltino, James would have died."

Peppy paused to look at Fox, "James was in a coma for a month, and he missed Fox's first birthday. James was never quite the same afterwards, he got sick more often, he was always tired and he never had that much energy. He almost had to quit flying."

"Does Fox know this story?" Falco asked, "He could learn from it and this."

"No, he doesn't," Peppy said, "James never got around telling him. When Fox wakes up I think I'll tell him."

"Tell me what?" a feeble voice came.

"Fox!" Peppy and Falco called out in unison.

"Take it easy," Peppy said as Fox attempted to sit up, "Do you remember passing out during that mission?"

"No," Fox answered weakly, "I don't. Why do I feel so horrible?"

"You have a dangerously high fever," Peppy said, "And possible pneumonia. Why did you go on that mission? You could have stayed here and Falco, Slippy and I could have handled it."

"I didn't know how sick I was," Fox answered, "I took my temperature this morning and it only read thirty-eight point six."

"Uh, that's still a fever Fox," Falco said, "It's slight but still a fever."

"Fox why don't you try and get some rest," Peppy said, "If you do have pneumonia you'll need all the rest you can get."

Fox nodded and fell asleep almost immediately. Several moments later Slippy's panic stricken voice came over the intercom. "Uh guys we have a problem."

* * *

Yay, chapter three! And my good friend cliffy is back. What's the big problem that Slippy's freaking out about? So on top of using metric, I am also using military (twenty-four) hour time. In this chapter, I used twenty-two hundred hours which is ten at night.

Metric conversions:  
40.2 degrees Celsius is 104.3 degrees Fahrenheit  
38.6 degrees Celsius is 101.4 degrees Fahrenheit

I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought. Until next time, see ya!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	4. Stranded

Hey there everyone! Here's the rewrite of chapter four. I don't have much to say about this chapter so you can get started right away.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or the characters. I just really enjoy playing the games.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Four: Stranded

"Slippy what's wrong?" Peppy called through the communicator on his wrist. "You said that there was a problem."

"Um, how long do you think that Fox will be able to hold out for?" Slippy asked.

"I'm not sure, why?" Peppy asked growing more nervous by the minute.

"Our main engine just failed!" Slippy cried.

"What?!" Peppy yelled, "Please tell me you're joking, Slippy."

"It's no joke," Slippy cried, "And that's not all, our back-up engines are low on fuel!"

"Why the hell are our back-up engines low on fuel?" Falco yelled.

"Because this is the fourth time our engine has failed." Slippy said sheepishly, "Oh I need ROB to report to the engine room." ROB walked out of the bay and Slippy closed the communication line.

"Great, just _fantastic_," Falco exclaimed as he punched the table near the bed that Fox was in, "Fox hardly ever gets sick and the _one time_ he does, the damn engine fails!"

"Calm down Falco," Peppy urged, "Be quiet or you'll wake Fox."

"Too late," a very feeble whisper said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Fox," Peppy said now glaring at Falco, "Go back to sleep."

"I don't believe you." Fox said as he went to sit up but was met with an intense pain in his side and nearly fell back against the bed.

"Fox don't…" Peppy said as he carefully steadied Fox, "You cracked three ribs and broke your wrist when you crashed earlier."

"I'm fine," Fox muttered. He knew that they were in trouble. He stood up and nearly fell to the floor and he would have if it had not been for Falco.

"No, you're not," Falco said as he managed to hold Fox steady, "Fox, lie back down. There's nothing you can do in your condition. You're too sick to be up and about. Just lie back down, go back to sleep and let us deal with the problem."

"So there _is _a problem." Fox muttered.

"Fox there is absolutely nothing you can do about it," Peppy said giving Falco another death glare, "Please just get back in bed."

"What happened?" Fox demanded still holding on to Falco.

"The engine failed," Falco said "And Slippy is panicking."

"Okay then," Fox said as he let go of Falco, "There _is_ something I can do about it."

"Fox let Slippy and ROB handle the situation," Peppy said, "They know what to do."

"No, they don't," Fox said as he tried to walk towards the door, "The last three times the engine failed _I_ was the one who fixed it. I need to get to the engine room but…" Fox closed his eyes and swayed dangerously.

Falco ran over to help his teammate, "Fox, you shouldn't be up," Falco said as kept Fox from falling to the floor, "You should be resting."

"Sorry," Fox muttered as he leaned against Falco, "I just need to get to the engine room. I just…don't have the energy. I can fix the problem. Slippy doesn't know what to do." Fox paused, "I just need to do this one thing and it's not going to take long. I'll be fine."

Peppy sighed, _'Just like James,_' he thought, _'He always put others before himself. Fox doesn't seem to care that he has a dangerously high temperature. He just wants to get everyone back to Corneria_.' He looked at Fox, _'Sometimes I wish that he would put himself first._'

"Well if you insist," Falco said as he put Fox's uninjured arm around his shoulders, "But I'm not going to let go of you. We don't need you nose-diving to the floor. Are you coming, Peppy?"

"What, oh, sure I guess." Peppy said.

* * *

It was a slow trip to the engine room. Fox could barely stand on his own. Falco wouldn't let Fox walk without assistance and Peppy would force Fox to take breaks every time the younger pilot showed even the slightest sign of fatigue.

* * *

Meanwhile, Slippy was completely stumped. He had tried everything to get the engine back on but nothing worked. "I don't get it," He said, "I did everything, how come it's still not working?" He then heard the door open, "Did you find it ROB?"

"I'm not ROB," Fox said weakly.

"Fox what are you doing here?" Slippy said, "You should be resting."

"I came to help," Fox muttered, "I know what to do. The engine does this whenever it has less than twenty-five percent fuel."

"You're right!" Slippy cried, "So all I need to do is add more fuel?"

"Not add, just transfer," Fox replied, "Use the fuel from the back-up engines."

"Thanks Fox you're a life saver!" Slippy cried.

Fox nodded. He had used most of his energy walking up to the engine room and he was now incredibly dizzy. "Falco," he whispered, "I need to sit down."

"Are you okay Fox?" Falco asked as he helped Fox sit down.

"I'm just really tired." Fox whispered back as he closed his eyes.

"Fox you shouldn't overwork yourself," Peppy said, "Did we not tell you to rest? I swear, one of these days one of your selfless acts will get you killed. Come on, we should get you back in bed."

"Come on Fox," Falco said, "Let's go."

"Wait," Fox muttered, "I have to know if it worked."

Slippy started the engine but nothing happened, "It's not working!" He cried.

"What?" Fox muttered, "That always works."

"Come on Fox there's nothing more you can do," Falco said helping Fox to his feet, "Let's go back to the Medical Bay."

"No," Fox muttered as he stumbled towards the control panel. "There has to be something I can do. There just has to be something I can…" Fox's legs gave out and he fell.

"Fox," Slippy said as he caught his teammate, "What do you think you're doing? If you don't rest you'll get worse. Listen ROB and I have everything under control here. Don't worry we'll get the engine back online. Go rest now, there is nothing more you can do."

"But I want to help," Fox muttered closing his eyes, "Let me help."

"Fox," Slippy said, "You shouldn't push yourself so hard, especially right now. Let ROB and I deal with this problem. Go get some rest okay."

Fox didn't respond he lost consciousness again and Slippy seemed to notice. He carefully set Fox down on the floor then he turned towards Falco.

"He's ether asleep or unconscious." Slippy said, "As much as I appreciate Fox's help I don't think he should be overwhelming himself right now. He's just too sick and I don't want him to get worse. If he wakes up again, before we get to Corneria, tell him that everything is under control."

"We'll try Slippy," Falco answered, "But you know how Fox is. He's incredibly stubborn and I don't think he'll listen."

"I know but for now, it's the best we can do." Slippy said sadly.

* * *

Oh boy, that can't be a good thing. Will Slippy get the engines working so they can get Fox back to Corneria? Find out in the chapters to come. Let me know what you thought. Until next time, see ya!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


	5. Making Progress

Hey there everyone! Finally, almost five years in the making, I am back with chapter five of this story. I really don't have much to say about this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox or the characters. I just really enjoy playing the games.

Happy Reading!

* * *

Chapter Five: Making Progress

Peppy sighed as Falco carefully lifted Fox's unconscious form from the metal floor, "I'm going to put in another call to Corneria," he said, "See if they can send us some kind of transport ship if possible."

"Sounds good," Slippy said, "Once we get back to Corneria I swear I'll fix the engines."

"You had _better!_" Peppy exclaimed, "You two bring Fox back to his room. He doesn't like staying in the medical room and there's nothing more we can do for him there. I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Yes Peppy…" Slippy whimpered sheepishly as he followed Falco out of the room, "How are you feeling Falco?"

"I'm fine," Falco said, "It was just a bit of hypothermia. And besides with Fox down and out for a while I can deal with the effects until they wear off."

"If you're sure," Slippy said, "Could you stay with Fox until Peppy can get to his room? I want to see if I can do anything about the engines."

"Sure thing," Falco said, "Hey, were we able to get Fox's Arwing back?"

"Yeah," Slippy said, "And it's a miracle that Fox only sustained three cracked ribs and a broken wrist. Thankfully, it is repairable. But it's going to take me a while to do so. And when I was inspecting the damage, I found an encrypted message."

"What did it say?"

"I don't know," Slippy said, "I couldn't crack the encryption. I bet Fox would be able to figure it out. He's better at that sort of thing than I am."

"Try to keep your voice down," Falco urged quietly, "He seems to wake up every time we mention that we'll need his help with something."

Slippy nodded, "I have to go to the engine room to see if I can get the engines working again," he said, "I should have dealt with the problem when Fox first noticed it three months ago."

Heh, no wonder Peppy's pissed," Falco said, "Yeah good luck with that."

"Thanks Falco," Slippy said, "Try to keep Fox in bed."

"Eh, Peppy's in rampage mode," Falco said, "He's not gonna let Fox go anywhere."

"Okay," Slippy said.

Several minutes after Slippy left an extremely irritated Peppy walked into Fox's room.

"What's up?"

"They won't be able to send us a transport until tomorrow," Peppy said as he sat down next to Fox's bed, "Fox can't wait that long…I mean he _could_ hold out until tomorrow but…I don't want to have him wait that long."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're gonna hope that Slippy can fix the engines," Peppy said, "And hope that Fox can hold on for a while longer." He placed his hand on Fox's forehead, "Would you get something that will help to lower his fever?"

"Sure," Falco said, "What do you want me to get him? Acetaminophen or ibuprofen?"

"Acetaminophen," Peppy said, "Ibuprofen upsets his stomach and he doesn't need that right now. Get some ice for his head as well."

"Alright," Falco said, "I'll be back."

"Hurry Falco," Peppy muttered.

* * *

Slippy sighed as he checked the control panel in engine room again, "I just don't know what to do ROB," Slippy said, "Everything's failed. The engine now has enough fuel to get us to Corneria but it won't restart. I've done everything I know of to try to start the engine again. Do you have any ideas ROB?"

"I have no additional ideas," ROB said.

"Dammit," Slippy swore, "We _need_ to get Fox back to Corneria."

"Fox will probably hold out for several days in his current condition without medication," ROB said, "However without medication his condition will become more difficult to treat and will more than likely lead to complications."

Slippy sighed, "Complications meaning the pneumonia will permanently damage his lungs and he'll never be able to pilot again?"

"Affirmative."

"And that will be my fault for not fixing the engine properly when this happened the first time," Slippy said as he hung his head, "I will feel _awful_ if that happens."

"Fox would not want you to blame yourself," ROB said.

"I know Fox wouldn't blame me," Slippy said as his communicator beeped, "But I would still feel responsible." He checked his communicator, "That's odd. The message I just got is encrypted." It was similar to the encrypted message he had found on Fox's Arwing but it was less complex and one that Slippy could crack. He worked quickly to crack the code, "ROB could you possibly trace the origin of this message?"

"There is a second encryption preventing me from doing so." ROB said, "There is no way to find the source. Why do you want to know?"

"It's telling me how to fix the engines," Slippy said, "It's telling me that I need to cut the power to the entire ship for thirty minutes then start everything back up again. What do you think ROB? Should I try it?"

"It is worth a try," ROB responded.

"Alright," Slippy said, "Start preparing the ship for the power cut. Will it have any effect on the oxygen levels in the ship?"

"A thirty minute power cut will decrease the oxygen by eighteen point five percent by the time the power comes back on," ROB said, "It will then take approximately two hours to fully restore the oxygen levels. The decrease will be noticeable but it should not cause any adverse effects"

Slippy sighed, "What about Fox?" he asked. He knew that the decrease in oxygen wouldn't affect the healthy members of the crew but Fox was in the beginning stages of bacterial pneumonia. Such a substantial drop in oxygen was sure to have severe adverse effects on his currently poor health.

"Fox will be the only one to suffer negative effects due to the decrease in oxygen," ROB said, "The effects should pose no immediate threat to his life however it will drastically shorten the amount of time he can safely go without treatment."

"How long will he be able to go?" Slippy asked.

"Approximately eight hours," ROB responded.

"Dammit!" Slippy exclaimed, "If I can get the engine started it will take us almost ten hours to get to Corneria from our current location. But if I can't get it started…Fox will…" He shuddered. Slippy didn't want to see one of his closest friends be forced to give up his life-long dream because of his carelessness. "Is there anything we can do for Fox so he doesn't get worse?"

"The medical bay is the only area on the ship that has a back-up generator for emergency situations," ROB said, "That area will be unaffected by the shut-down. It would be best to have Fox rest there until we restore the power to the ship."

"Sounds good," Slippy said, "I'll contact Peppy and let him know. I also want you to stay in the medical room to monitor Fox during the thirty minute shut-down. I just…don't want to take any chances with Fox being as sick as he is. I'll be fine prepping the ship for the shut down."

"Affirmative," ROB said, "I will head down to the medical room now."

"Thanks ROB."

* * *

"I'm back," Falco said as he entered Fox's quarters carrying a small washcloth, a container of ice water and a syringe, "How's he doing?"

"He's hanging in there," Peppy said as he took the syringe from Falco, "He hasn't gotten better but at the same time he hasn't gotten worse either."

"Peppy," Slippy called through the communicator.

"What is it Slippy?" Peppy asked.

"I need you and Falco to bring Fox back to the medical bay," Slippy said, "I'm going to be cutting the power to the ship for thirty minutes and the medical bay is the only place that won't be affected by the decrease in oxygen."

"Alright," Peppy said, "Are you trying to fix the engines?"

"Yeah," Slippy said, "I got an encrypted message telling me that in order to get the engine back up I'll have to cut the power to the ship for thirty minutes."

"What if it's a trap Slippy?" Peppy asked.

"I don't think it is," Slippy said, "It's the same encryption that my father always uses meaning…"

"It's the same encryption that James, Pigma and I used back in the day," Peppy finished, "Alright Slippy, I'll trust you with this."

"Thanks Peppy," Slippy said, "Just let me know when you get the medical bay so I can cut the power after you get there."

"Alright."

"Can I just leave this stuff here?" Falco said as he placed the container of water and the washcloth on Fox's desk.

"Go ahead," Peppy said, "I'm going to need you to carry Fox anyway."

Falco nodded. He gently lifted Fox from his bed causing him to stir.

"Falco…" Fox whispered, "What's going on…?"

"Nothing Fox," Falco said softly, "We're just bringing you back to the medical bay."

"Why…?"

"Slippy's cutting the power to the ship to try and fix the engines," Falco said as he gently placed Fox down on his bed so he could get his younger teammate on his back, "The medical bay is the only place that won't be affected by the decrease in oxygen. We're going to bring you there so you don't get worse."

"Slippy still hasn't fixed the engines yet?" Fox asked as he wrapped his arms around Falco's shoulders to the best of his ability.

"Don't worry about that Fox," Peppy urged as he placed his hand on Fox's back to help support the vulpine, "He'll be able to get the engines running again without your help. I really wish you would learn to rely on us from time to time."

Fox didn't argue with Peppy. He felt awful and he just didn't have the strength to argue with the father-figure of the team.

"Just get some sleep Fox," Falco said, "Things aren't gonna fall apart in your absence."

"Your friend Bill has offered to help us out until you're feeling better," Peppy said.

Fox nodded a bit and rested his head on Falco's shoulder.

"Hey Fox," Falco said, "Is today the first day you've had a fever?"

"Why are you asking him that? Peppy asked.

"We're running rather low on acetaminophen," Falco said, "I used some last week for a headache and we had more than half the bottle. But now we only have six maybe seven pills left. Fox, is today the first day you've been sick?"

To Peppy's and Falco's dismay, Fox shook his head.

"Are you kidding me?" Falco asked.

"Fox," Peppy said sternly, "How long have you been sick?"

"Three days…" Fox muttered.

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Falco asked, "Seriously, you've been sick for three days? It's no wonder you're in the early stages of pneumonia."

"I thought it was just a cold…"

"It doesn't matter," Peppy said, "You should have been resting."

"You must have had a hell of a time trying to hide it from ROB," Falco said, "You had us fooled but how the hell did you fool the robot?"

"ROB could tell that I was feverish before I started feeling sick," Fox mumbled, "So I told him not to tell anyone."

Peppy sighed, "You're so much like your father," he said, "He nearly died doing something like this!"

"Peppy please…" Fox muttered as he rested his head against Falco's shoulder again. He felt terrible and he really didn't feel like listening to Peppy compare him to his father.

"I'm sorry Fox," Peppy said as he followed Falco into the medical bay, "I just can't help it sometimes."

"ROB," Falco said as he gently eased Fox on to one of the beds, "Could you check his temperature before we give him a fever reducer?"

"Affirmative," ROB said, "Fox's temperature has gone down to forty degrees."

"It's still very high," Peppy commented, "But at least it's gone down a bit. ROB would it be alright to give him a fever reducer?"

"I would recommend giving Fox medication for his fever," ROB said.

"Alright," Peppy said as he carefully injected the medicine that Falco had prepared into Fox's uninjured arm, "Try to get some sleep okay, Fox?"

Fox nodded then drifted into an uneasy sleep.

"Peppy," Slippy called through the communicator, "Have you gotten Fox to the medical room yet?"

"Yes we have," Peppy said, "Are you about to turn the power off?"

"I am," Slippy said, "I'll keep you guys updated with the status of the engines. How's Fox doing?"

Peppy sighed, "He hasn't changed much but it turns out that he's been sick for three days," he said, "And he hid it from us."

"Are you serious?" Slippy asked, "He's been working with a fever for the past three days? How did you find out about it?"

"We kinda beat it out of him when I brought up the fact that we're running low on acetaminophen," Falco said, "Being as sick as he is, he caved."

"Why didn't he tell us?" Slippy said, "We could have taken over for him. I mean, we've been really busy the past few days. I'm sure he must have had a hard time keeping up."

"I couldn't tell you," Peppy said, "But I will be having a nice little chat with him once he's feeling better."

"Alright," Slippy said, "I'm turning off the power to the ship now."

"Keep us updated Slippy," Peppy said.

"I will."

Peppy sighed as the lights in the medical bay flickered as the power to the rest of the ship was cut.

"Let's just hope this works," He muttered as he placed a cold compress to Fox's forehead.

* * *

Slippy was extremely apprehensive when it came time to restore the power to the ship. He knew that if the engines didn't restart they would be stuck there until Corneria was able to send them a transport. He knew that if that did end up happening, Peppy would be an absolute mess. He remembered that after Fox had collapsed following Andross's defeat, Peppy almost treated Fox as if he was made of glass. Even after Fox got an adequate amount of sleep and recovered from the several broken bones and concussion he had sustained, Peppy babied Fox. And it lasted for nearly three days until the eighteen year old finally snapped and told Peppy to stop in a rather harsh manner.

"Guys," Slippy called, "I'm restoring the power to the ship."

"Alright Slippy," Peppy responded.

Slippy held his breath as he restored the power to the ship and to his relief, the engines were completely back online.

"Guys," He called happily, "The engines are back online! I'm setting course and we are on our way back to Corneria!"

* * *

Chapter five is finally done! And it looks like Slippy finally got the engines back up and running. Hopefully, it won't take me another few years to get chapter six up.

Metric Conversion:  
40 degrees Celsius is 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

I hope you liked it and I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Until next time, see ya!

_Ex-Shark-V-005_


End file.
